Syrians

Syrians are the inhabitants of Syria, consisting of Arabs of the Bedouin and Levantine cultural groups. They are an ancient community, and the people of the Levant later intermarried with the Arabs and formed a new population. 74% of Syrians are Sunni Muslim, 12% Shi'ite Muslim, 10% Christian, 3% Druze, and 1% Jews. Syrian Christianity used to be the dominant religion in the country, but the Muslim conquest and the following centuries saw the majority of the Christian population either convert to Islam or leave the country; in the late 1800s, anti-Christian violence led to Christians leaving for other countries, and in 1943, only 14% of Syrians were Christian, dropping from there. Religious conflict also arose between the two Muslim branches, Sunni and Shia, with the majority Sunnis facing oppression from the minority Shia Alawites under Hafez al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad's regimes. In 2016, 2,000,000 Syrians were refugees as a result of the Syrian Civil War, and the Syrian people suffered as many civilians were killed in the war.